Where does “ballet” come from?
Ballet comes from French ballet, from Italian balletto, from Italian ballo, from Old High German balo, from Proto-Indo-European gʷelH-.
ballet (English): A classical form of dance; A theatrical...
Definitions
- A classical form of dance; A theatrical...
Ancestry of “ballet”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | ballet | ballet |
| 2 | Middle French | ballet | — |
| 3 | Italian | balletto | Diminutive of ballo; short dance; ballet; ballet... |
| 4 | Italian | -etto | Alterative suffix used to form melioratives,... |
| 5 | English | -et | Used to form diminutives, loosely construed |
| 6 | Middle English | -et | Forms diminutive nouns from nouns; in some words,... |
| 7 | Old French | -et | Used to form a diminutive, masculine noun;... |
| 8 | Latin | -ātus | ed |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | -ātos | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₂tos | Forms adjectives from nouns, indicating the possession of a thing or a quality |